Samsung tends to introduce phones with two or three color options, then slowly branch out to all parts of the visible spectrum in time. It's time for the Note 3 to start shifting colors, and you can experience it on Verizon Wireless. The new Rose Gold version of the Note 3 is coming to Big Red as an exclusive device.

The Rose Gold color scheme is basically a white Note 3 with gold trim – it actually looks a bit like the gold iPhone.

Samsung saw fit to sneak Android 4.4.2 out on the international Snapdragon-based Note 3 last week (starting with Poland, for some reason), but now things are picking up steam. The first 4.4.2 updates are arriving for the Exynos Note 3 (SM-N900). First up on the update list this time is Russia.

Earlier this week, Samsung officially started the rollout of the Galaxy Note 3's update to Android 4.4.2 KitKat. Appearing first for those in Poland through KIES, the update matched what had been leaked shortly before the rollout began.

Just a few days later, Samsung has uploaded the official kernel source files to its Open Source Release Center.

Interestingly, the manufacturer told developer Chainfire just yesterday "we only publish open source code of official version," responding to a request for access to the files.

If you're too impatient to wait for Samsung to get Android 4.4 to your carrier variant of the Galaxy Note 3 (or if you're just tired of TouchWiz), the indefatigable boys and girls of CyanogenMod are here to help. They've just released the first nightly builds of CM 11 (KitKat) for Samsung's plus-sized flagship, with support for the international LTE model (N9005), plus Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint versions.

Rarely does the first leaked firmware update for a flagship phone end up being exactly what rolls out to users, but that appears to be the case for the recently leaked KitKat ROM for the Note 3. Android 4.4.2 (N9005XXUENA6) is appearing in Poland through Kies right now, and the version number matches the leak from this weekend.

If you've got a Qualcomm-powered, international Galaxy Note 3 and an appreciation for up-to-date software, you might want to check out the latest official leaked ROM from SamMobile. They've posted a purported test build for the KitKat 4.4.2 update of the Galaxy Note 3 SM-N9005 (that's the Snapdragon 800 model with LTE bands). This leak comes just two days after the Android 4.4 build for the Galaxy S4.

Update: SamMobile has posted a write-up with more pictures. Yup, the Neo looks like a 9/10th scale Galaxy Note 3. You can see the rest here.

If you're looking for a big Samsung smartphone, but one that's not quite as big (or as expensive) as the Galaxy Note 3, you may soon be in luck. SamMobile posted a photo of what they're calling the "Galaxy Note 3 Neo" to their Twitter account, showing what looks like a carbon copy of the standard Note 3 in a slightly smaller size.

All of the flagship Android devices from 2013 have been added to CyanogenMod in some form or another: the Galaxy S4, the HTC One, the LG G2, the Moto X, and of course, the Nexus 5. But there's one notable entry that has not graced the download page yet - Samsung's enormous and powerful Galaxy Note 3. According to an early-morning post from the custom ROM's official Google+ account, that's about to change.